JETHAWKS REPORT : The Spin on a New Rotation

The question arose Sunday and likely will linger for another week: Who is going to replace the recently promoted Ivan Montane in the JetHawk starting rotation?

Because of two off-days in the next week, the JetHawks will not need another starting pitcher until June 8. And Manager Dave Brundage is still not sure who that will be.

The most-intriguing option would be Greg Wooten, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound right-hander currently tearing through the Class-A Midwest League with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Wooten, 22, is 6-0 with a 1.97 earned-run average.

But the Timber Rattlers are in first place in their division and the parent Seattle Mariners might want to keep Wooten in Wisconsin until at least the end of the first half, June 16.

Another possibility might have been Derek Bieniasz, 22, a right-hander who was 11-10 with a 3.13 ERA last year at Wisconsin. Bieniasz was ticketed for Lancaster, but he suffered a broken right wrist before spring training and is still in a cast.

The next option is moving a reliever into the rotation. The most-likely choices are Tim Trawick and Clint Gould, Brundage said.

Trawick is 0-2 with a 6.26 ERA and Gould is 0-1 with a 4.05 ERA; both have shown the stamina to handle starting.

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Luis Molina’s MRI results came back Wednesday and confirmed the early prognosis: He suffered a torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments and cartilage in his left knee. JetHawk trainer Rob Nodine said Dr. Dom Sisto of Sherman Oaks will perform surgery on Molina within a week. Rehabilitation is expected to last nine months. . . .

The JetHawks are off today before starting a six-game trip through San Bernardino and High Desert. The JetHawks will play the final 16 games of the first half against teams in the Southern Division.